Iowa Companies and ISU Extension Working
Together to Support Agriculture and the Environment

Press Release

Manure Works, LLC a new start up company founded
by the team that started Twin Lakes Environmental
Services of Rockwell City, Iowa, has launched a new
web based system for creating manure spreading
records. Twin Lakes Environmental Services, LLC,
specializes in writing Manure Management Plans (MMP)
and Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans (CNMP)
to ensure environmentally sound agriculture
practices and manure application in compliance with
all state and federal regulations. Manure Works, LLC
will not only offer its new web based recordkeeping
service to clients of Twin Lakes Environmental
Services, LLC, but will also make the service
available to other producers through environmental
service provider companies throughout the United
States.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture
more than 1.3 million tons of manure is applied as
fertilizer each year to about 15.8 million acres of
farmland in the United States. Manure Works will
help livestock producers make sure they are applying
manure at agronomic rates and in an environmentally
correct manner.

Mike Sexton the Founder of Manure Works, LLC
recognized that a Web-based Mapping application is
what was needed so he attended a workshop offered by
Iowa State University Extension that focused on
working with Web Mapping and GIS. After discussing
the technological options available for developing
such a tool with workshop instructor and ISU
Associate Professor Christopher J. Seeger, GISP,
Manure Works LLC, contracted with Ames, Iowa based
Winning Solutions, Inc. to provide software design,
programming, web application hosting, application
updates and other technology related services to
build and deliver the new web based Manure Spreading
Records system. Winning Solutions, Inc. is a
technology company that offers a wide range of web
and traditional client server custom software
development services.

Sexton stated: "We chose Winning Solutions, Inc.
because we believed they had the ability to build
this sophisticated system on time and on budget and
they did. WSI was able to demonstrate their
competency to us not only in programming but their
ability to integrate sophisticated mapping API's
(Application Programming Interfaces) that allowed us
to leverage powerful web based mapping technology.
Next, we needed a company with experience
incorporating weather data into our system so that
we could document weather conditions on the days
around the time our customers apply manure to farm
fields. Both of these key capabilities help set our
system apart from currently available solutions.
Last, but possibly most importantly, we wanted to
own the rights and source code to the software
concept we created but we didn't want to hire a
staff of programmers and try to do it ourselves.
WSI's business model and standard policies met these
requirements.â€ Mike further added â€œ Now that the
initial development is done we are moving into the
marketing phase. WSI has staff that have marketing
expertise to help us design Power Point programs for
trade shows as well as Web design. It is very
helpful to have the same people that designed the
program work on the marketing as they already
understand the product you are trying to market. WSI
has been a one stop shop for all of our needs on
this project and I could not be more pleased."

Mark Steffen a Senior IT Consultant with Winning
Solutions, Inc. stated: We were very pleased to have
been selected by Manure Works, LLC to develop the
software that this company is based on. Our team
enjoys working with technology and enabling
solutions that help strengthen Iowa's economy. It is
an added benefit when our work also helps protect
Iowa's environment and water quality. We are looking
forward to helping Manure Works, LLC enhance their
web based Manure Recordkeeping system and grow their
new business.

The system is available today for an annual fee
of $300 per year per site to livestock producers at
www.manureworks.com. There will be a one-time
set up fee, in which Manure Works personnel will
input all of your livestock and field data. This fee
will be based on the number of fields you will have
in your spreading plan, costing about $65.00 per
field.

The system is also designed to be used by manure
spreading contractors as well. Spreading contractors
(companies that contract with livestock producers to
apply their manure to fields as fertilizer) may use
the system for free if their producer customers have
subscribed. The system also allows the producer to
make available their spreading records on a
controlled basis to the regulatory departments. This
may eliminate the need for stressful and time
consuming in person meetings to sort through and
review paper based spreading records.

The Manure Works web based manure recordkeeping
and planning system provide a valuable service to
livestock producers by saving time, automatically
recording weather conditions around the time of
spreading, providing a visual view of each of their
fields showing what was spread where and when,
giving them the ability to print out professional
reports of their spreading activities and much more.
The Manure Works system helps lessen the growing
burden of dealing with increasingly stringent
regulations and record keeping requirements. At the
same times it gives applicators and producers the
tools they need to more safely and accurately apply
manure.

The system debuted at the 2009 Manure Expo in
Boone, Iowa on July 22, 2009. The system attracted a
great deal of attention and new subscriptions to the
service are outpacing expectations.